Taxonomy of nursing practice: adding an administrative domain

Area of Science:

• Nursing Practice and Management
• Healthcare Administration
• Nursing Taxonomy Development

Background:

• The Taxonomy of Nursing Practice currently lacks a domain for administrative and leadership roles.
• Nurses play crucial roles in healthcare organizational function and patient care outcomes.
• Existing literature and author experience informed the need for this expansion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose the addition of a fifth domain, Administrative, to the Taxonomy of Nursing Practice.
• To introduce the concept of organization nursing diagnoses.
• To enhance the scope of nursing practice documentation.

Main Methods:

• Review of the Taxonomy of Nursing Practice.
• Analysis of organizational and nursing management/leadership literature.
• Incorporation of author expertise in nursing administration.

Main Results:

• An omission was identified in the Taxonomy of Nursing Practice regarding nursing management and leadership roles.
• A new Administrative Domain was developed to encompass these roles.
• Organization nursing diagnoses were conceptualized with the organization as the client.

Conclusions:

• The inclusion of an Administrative Domain will provide a comprehensive framework for nursing practice.
• This addition will facilitate the development of nursing diagnoses for which nurses are accountable within organizations.
• Explicitly measuring nurses' administrative contributions will improve understanding of their impact on organizational function and patient care outcomes.